JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
10 March 2004
- –Geoffrey Van Orden, Philip Bushill-Matthews, Bernd Posselt, Nirj Deva, Thomas Mann, John Walls Cushnahan and Cees Bremmer on behalf of the PPE-DE Group
- –Glenys Kinnock and Margrietus J. van den Berg on behalf of the PSE Group
- –Bob van den Bos on behalf of the ELDR Group
- –Patricia McKenna on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
- –Luisa Morgantini and Marianne Eriksson on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
- –Ulla Margrethe Sandbæk on behalf of the EDD Group
- –EDD (B5‑0127/2004),
- –ELDR (B5‑0134/2004),
- –PSE (B5‑0138/2004),
- –PPE-DE (B5‑0140/2004),
- –GUE/NGL (B5‑0145/2004),
- –Verts/ALE (B5‑0146/2004),
European Parliament resolution on Burma
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on Burma, in particular those of 11 April 2002, 13 March 2003, 5 June 2003 and 4 September 2003,
– having regard to the Council's Common Position 96/635/CFSP of 28 October 1996 defined by the Council on the basis of Article J.2 of the Treaty on European Union, on Burma, as renewed and extended by the Council's Common Position 2003/297/CFSP of 28 April 2003 on Burma,
– having regard to the External Relations Council meeting of 16 June 2003 that brought forward the implementation of the extended sanctions,
– having regard to the 20 January 2004 Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the Updated EU Visa Ban and Assets Freeze List,
– having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 552/97 of 24 March 1997 temporarily withdrawing access to generalised tariff preferences from the Union of Myanmar,
– having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1081/2000 of 22 May 2000 prohibiting the sale, supply and export to Burma/Myanmar of equipment which might be used for internal repression or terrorism, and freezing the funds of certain persons related to important governmental functions in that country,
– having regard to Rule 50(5) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas EU targeted sanctions against the Burmese military regime (the State Peace and Development Council - SPDC) require review and renewal by 29 April 2004,
B. whereas on 20 January 2004 the Presidency announced that the EU visa ban and assets freeze list against the SPDC had been updated following a government reshuffle,
C. whereas on 16 June 2003 the Council decided to bring forward the implementation of strengthened sanctions against the SPDC, which were originally to enter into force in October 2003, following the detention of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders; whereas the Council also agreed 'to monitor closely the further evolution of the situation in Burma/Myanmar, and reaffirmed its readiness to react proportionately to future developments',
D. whereas Aung San Suu Kyi was imprisoned until September 2003, but was subsequently transferred to house arrest where she remains without access to telephone communication and where visitors require government permission to see her,
E. whereas a further 1350 political prisoners remain in jail in Burma, and the Burmese Government continues to deny prisoners adequate medical care whilst imprisoned,
F. whereas on 30 August 2003 the Burmese Prime Minister, General Khin Nyunt, announced a seven-point 'Roadmap' with a constitutional convention supposedly culminating in free and fair elections,
G. whereas UN Special Envoy to Burma Razali Ismail had meetings in Burma last week with Aung San Suu Kyi, General Khin Nyunt and ethnic leaders,
H. having regard to Amnesty International's 22 December 2003 official statement on Burma,
I. having regard to the UN Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights' report of 5 January 2004 on the human rights situation in Burma,
J. whereas on returning to Kuala Lumpur, Razali Ismail stated that the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other detained NLD leaders was an essential precondition for any meaningful dialogue with the regime,
K. whereas Razali Ismail met SPDC leaders in Thailand in February 2004 and was assured by Foreign Minister Win Aung that the SPDC would resume multi-party talks this year,
L. whereas in January 2004 the UN Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the human rights situation in Myanmar reported that 'the most urgent requirements today are the lifting of all remaining restrictions on the freedoms of expression, movement, information, assembly and association; the repeal of the related 'security' legislation; and the opening and reopening of all political parties’ offices throughout the country',
M. whereas the people of Burma are subject to human rights abuses including forced labour, persecution of dissidents, conscription of child soldiers, rape of ethnic minority women and children by government troops, and forced relocation,
N. whereas the NLD has called for investment sanctions against Burma,
O. whereas EU Member States remain among Burma's biggest investors and trading partners,
P. whereas it is reported that leaders of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) - of which Burma is a member and over which Burma is due to preside in 2006 - have requested Burma's participation in the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) Foreign Ministers' meeting in Ireland in April 2004 and at the ASEM summit in Vietnam in October 2004,
1. Calls for Aung San Suu Kyi and all those detained or put under house arrest since May 2003 to be immediately and unconditionally released, and considers that the release of all political prisoners would be a major step towards the restoration of democracy in Burma;
2. Calls for all the NLD offices closed in May 2003 to be immediately reopened;
3. Insists that the SPDC relinquish its grip on power and that the results of the last elections be fully respected;
4. Calls on the SPDC to initiate immediately meaningful dialogue with the NLD and ethnic groups to bring about a return to democracy and respect for human rights, including ethnic minorities' rights, in Burma;
5. Demands that the proposed roadmap process be modified under international supervision to ensure that any constitutional convention is based upon democratic principles and that the results of the last elections are fully respected by that process;
6. Insists that the recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteur's report be implemented;
7. Reaffirms its strong commitment to and full support for democratic, judicial and political change in Burma;
8. Calls on the Council and the Commission to show their readiness, in collaboration with the UN, to help facilitate the national reconciliation process in Burma;
9. Insists that the EU's Common Position on Burma should be strengthened, to enter into force subsequently if the regime has not taken tangible steps towards the restoration of democracy in Burma, and should include the following measures: preventing EU companies and citizens from investing in Burma; banning the import of goods and services from enterprises owned by the military, military personnel and their associates; banning the import of strategically important goods from sectors of the economy which are subject to a monopoly, such as gems and timber; and banning international financial transfers and transactions by either a citizen or an entity of an EU Member State;
10. Suggests that these measures should be included within the Common Position when it is reviewed in April 2004, but that the Council should review the situation in June 2004 and then implement these measures if tripartite dialogue between the NLD, ethnic minority leaders and the Burmese authorities, or other concrete steps towards political change, have not taken place;
11. Stresses the importance of having a strong Common Position on Burma after EU enlargement takes place;
12. Urges all Member States to immediately and fully implement sanctions adopted;
13. Calls on the UN to impose targeted sanctions on Burma, and on the UN Security Council to address the situation in Burma as a matter of urgency;
14. Calls on ASEAN States to exert greater pressure on the SPDC to release Aung San Suu Kyi and other detained NLD members immediately, and to take meaningful steps to exercise their influence over the Burmese regime to bring about democratic change in Burma and to deny Burma the Presidency of ASEAN in 2006;
15. Insists that Burma should not attend the ASEM meeting scheduled for April 2004 in the Republic of Ireland, and that Burma should not become a member of ASEM until irreversible political change towards democracy takes place in that country;
16. Regrets that the Government of the Republic of Ireland decided to establish diplomatic relations on a non-resident basis with Burma on 10 February almost at the start of its tenure of the Council Presidency;
17. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the ASEAN and ASEM Member States, Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD, ethnic minority leaders, the UN Secretary-General, the SPDC and Razali Ismail, the United Nations Special Envoy.